Help with embedding font in a PDF

[baruke]

Hello, 

I am currently trying to embed a free font into a PDF document using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. I tried downloading the font, and un zipping it, then I open my PDF, go to file---properties---font, but I do not see my font anywhere.

Can someone walk e throu the process of embedding a font?

Thanks!

[gary_sc]

Hi Baruke,

Sorry but it doesn't work that way. The fonts go into your system and are used by applications. Once you've completed in creating your application you can either print to your printer or print to PDF with Acrobat. Acrobat uses the font that you used in the application and varrying on a variety of things will probably embed the font into THAT document becuase it's needed in THAT document. 

If you need to change the font used in THAT document, you need to open the original application that made the document, change the font, and then re-print to PDF it with the new font.

I hope that makes sense. Simply Acrobat is not a document creation program. It is a digital printing program (and digital document reading program with a bunch of other capabilities in that media).

[baruke]

Hi, thank you for your response. I am very new to this, so it is still a little confusing to me. My goal is to sell the pdfs as editable wedding stationary, so the customers can change their names on the wedding invitations (pdfs) and then print. I originally made the invitations in photoshop, would I had to have embedded it there first? 

(I am testing out free fonts, but am working on getting a custom license for a font, allowing me to have the rights to embed it, in case that makes a difference)

[Dov Isaacs]

Several issues here:

(1)    Photoshop is primarily a raster image creation and editing program. Wedding invitations are typically and primarily text with the possibility of images brought in from Photoshop. Adobe InDesign or even Illustrator would be a much better choice for wedding invitation design.

(2)    Embedding a font within a PDF file does not allow that font to be used for changing or adding text via Acrobat. Any person trying to change or add text via Acrobat would also need to have the font installed on their system. These edit functions do not use the font already embedded in the PDF file.

(3)    The only solution that would use the embedded font would be if you used the PDF forms feature where you design a text field and assign the font in question to that field or fields. You can create forms fields either in Acrobat for an existing PDF file or in InDesign as part of your overall design of that invitation. The creation of the forms field using the font would embed the font completely such that all characters could be accessed.

[baruke]

That was helpful!

The reason I used PS was because my wedding stationary is scanned and clipped watercolor florals, but it sounds like In Design would be good for me to learn. 

So if I recreate my designs in In Design and embed the text there, then convert to pdf, that pdf will be editable by customers? 

And if I go the route of embeding straight into the pdf using text boxes, is there a downside to this, such as decreased quality?

[Dov Isaacs]

The only text that would be editable by your customers without having both Acrobat (not the free reader) and an installed copy of the font(s) in question would be to define form fields that use the font(s) in which case the fully-embedded font would be used (i.e., no requirement to install the font on the system). Note that forms fields are not the bastion of fine typography including kerning, ligatures, etc.!

[Dov Isaacs · Accepted solution]

A font must be installed in order for it to be recognized and embedded in a PDF file. Simply unzipping a font doesn't install it. If you are on Windows, right click on the font file and choose the Install for all users option. On MacOS, use Font Book to add fonts (File=>Add fonts).

There are two other necessary conditions to embed a font within a PDF file:

(1)    The font must allow embedding for at least Preview and Print.

(2)    There must be text already in the PDF file that references that font in which case you must use Acrobat Pro DC Preflight to embed the font. Alternatively, the font can be embedded if you are adding new text via the edit function and have selected the font (already installed on your system) from the list of available fonts.

[baruke]

Thank you!!!

[Allen23671971gxrc]

I'm sorry, I didn't understand a word of that.

Can you please just tell me exactly how to embed a font in DC pro?

Thank you.